On my journey to healthier and more eco-friendly living I’ve found a lot of cool homemade cosmetics recipes from different places on the internet. One of my favorites is homemade lip balm from Wellness Mama.

It’s simple and frugal.

My husband and I have been using this recipe for a couple years. I love it, but I don’t think it’s quite 100% husband-approved, yet because it “makes his lips shiny.” So I’ll be trying to fix this for him. In my next batch I’ll use less coconut oil and we’ll go from there.

Ingredients:

• unrefined cocoa butter
• unrefined coconut oil
• beeswax pellets
• pure peppermint essential oil (optional)

I buy these first three ingredients at Whole Foods, but you can find companies that will ship these to your house, including Mountain Rose Herbs. I got my peppermint oil as a gift, but there are plenty of online companies you can order from including Mountain Rose Herbs and Plant Therapy.

Tools:

• A small pot
• Glass measuring cup
• A spoon for mixing
• Empty lip balm tubes or an empty jar
• A funnel to help pour

I bought my empty tubes from Mountain Rose Herbs, but you can also find some good companies on Amazon selling these. You can even reuse old tubes, which is what I did the first time I made this stuff. Because they are plastic, I plan to continue using the tubes I have already bought instead of throwing them away and buying more.

Recipe:

• (1) tbsp unrefined cocoa butter
• (1) tbsp unrefined coconut oil
• (1) tbsp beeswax pellets
• (10) drops pure peppermint essential oil

1. Heat some water in the pot on the stove.

2. Place the oil, wax and butter into the glass cup.

3. Place the glass cup in the pot making sure not to get any water inside of the cup. (You want to avoid getting water into your mixture to prevent mold since this recipe has no preservatives in it. We’re trying to avoid preservatives, but we also want to avoid mold!)

4. Once the oil, wax and butter are melted, turn the burner off and stir in the peppermint oil. (The oil is optional, but peppermint gives your lips a nice tingle. Although I don’t see a point in having scented or flavored lip balm, you can experiment with different essential oils of your choice if you already have favorites.)

5. Mix well and carefully pour the liquid into (8) plastic lip balm tubes or your jar. (Don’t be discouraged if you spill some or mess it up. I did tonight and I’ve been making this stuff for a while. You’ll get better over time!)

6. Let these cool and solidify. (I put them in the fridge for about an hour.)

Tips:

• I recommend labeling the tubes with the date you made them if you’re interested in seeing how long one can last.
• This lip balm will melt if left in a hot place, so I make sure to keep mine at room temperature or below.
• Beeswax can sometimes stick to the tools you use, so I have a designated measuring cup and spoon that I use for melting and stirring beeswax.

If you’re interested, here is the proof that this is frugal!

If you want to know how much money I save by making this, I’ll break it down for you. Let me start by mentioning that when I buy lip balm, I go for the good stuff. Well, the best stuff I can find, which is usually Burt’s Bees. Typically, one of their tubes is a little over $3.

Cost:

• Unrefined cocoa butter: $27/lb → $0.84/tbsp
• Unrefined coconut oil: $5.50 for 14 oz → $0.20 for a tbsp
• Beeswax: $23/lb → $0.72/tbsp
• Peppermint essential oil: $17.50/oz (600 drops) → $0.29 (10 drops)
• Lip balm tubes: $6.50/25 tubes → $2.08/8 tubes

$0.84 + $0.20 + $0.72 + $0.29 + $2.08 = $4.13

It cost me $4.13 to make eight tubes of lip balm. This means that each tube costs a total of $0.52. That’s pretty good compared to Burt’s Bees $3+ tubes!

Of course, money isn’t everything, so you’ll have to consider the time and focus it takes to make this, as well.